Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

Before there was Match.com, eHarmony.com, or Tinder.com, there were individuals or agencies that “made introductions,” much like the matchmakers of the old days, like Yenta in the famous Fiddler on the Roof. The underlying theme of Fiddler is one of the key words of the musical: tradition.

In Alexander McCall Smith’s series A Perfect Passion Company, Katie has taken over her aunt’s business that does just that: makes introductions, somewhat in the traditional sense. The company takes clients, male and female, interviews them, takes a history of their social life, their likes and dislikes, and then matches them up with other people on their books. People pay for this service.

In book one of the series, Katie’s Aunt Ness has taken an adult gap year and is in Canada, a long way from Edinburgh, Scotland, leaving the business, its office, and her flat to Katie. Katie soon meets her work neighbor, William, who works and lives in the studio flat next door to the agency. William, from Australia, is engaged to be a medical student still in Australia. In an interesting twist, William is an artist, a designer of knitwear (not a “traditional” occupation for a man), whereas Katie is far more businesslike and exacting. While she has no experience in matchmaking, she takes to the business side of the venture (or adventure as it seems) quite easily.

Somehow, I missed book two of this series, but in reading this third book, it is clear that William and Alice, his fiancée, have broken up. William has declared a hiatus on romance, and it is very obvious that Katie is set to disrupt William’s hiatus.

Alexander McCall Smith has written many novels. To say he is prolific would be a grand understatement. At present count (or so the internet tells me) he has published 145 books, many of which are titles in two of his most popular series An Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries and The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Full disclosure: I’ve only read one of the Dalhousie books and none of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective series, although I have tried several of them over the years. They seem to be beloved by so many readers, but I had a difficult time connecting with them.

However, I then stumbled upon the Paul Stuart series, with only two books currently, My Italian Bulldozer and its sequel The Second-Worst Restaurant in France. I loved both these books!
While I enjoyed the two books of this Perfect Passion series, they were not as readable for me as the Paul Stuart series. These are quiet books, lots of interior dialogue, with nothing of the humor and sharp which I found in the Paul Stuart series. In this third book, Katie (and William, since they have become somewhat partners in Ness’s business) has become focused on the way societal class is viewed by both those in the upper classes and those who are not of the titled gentry.

In looking back at my Goodreads account, I see that I finished the first book of this series, Cook for Me, in March of 2023. I gave it five enthusiastic stars. I think I will go back to read book two, A Laborer in the Vineyard of Love, to see if I can regain the feelings I had for the first book as I did not finish Looking for You with the same feelings. I enjoyed it, but perhaps not as much as book one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor (Vintage) for the ARC of this book, which I am sure will be loved by all of Alexander McCall Smith’s millions of fans!